The Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Consortium will hold an extensive workshop and make several key presentations at the upcoming Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Digital Broadcasting Symposium (DBS) to be held from March 4 to 7 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

This year the DRM Consortium is planning a workshop split into two sessions.

The first part of the workshop will feature the Chairman of the DRM India Platform who will detail the steps taken by India and the public broadcaster in the country for introducing DRM and becoming in effect the largest digital radio deployment in the world.

Consortium experts will use the second part of the workshop as an open space where everyone will have the chance to explore the benefits of DRM with a DRM transmission chain in the FM band, and get digital programmes on air, by configuring their own DRM multiplex. This hands-on experience is aimed at demonstrating the easy and flexible way in which the DRM technology supports innovative content and service features. The setup will combine the best elements of the broadcast and the online world for the benefit of broadcasters and the listeners.

The two sessions of the workshop aim to take participants away from PowerPoint presentations to debate and real-world digital radio scenario. The delegates will be able to participate actively in both these DRM workshops with questions, comments and suggestions.

Ruxandra Obreja, DRM Consortium Chair, says that: "This year's DRM workshop will be highly interactive. It will highlight the benefits of the standard by giving participants the chance to configure programmes using the DRM digital standard in a simple and practical way. DRM is a great technology for the Asia-Pacific region and the more participants learn about it, the more comfortable they will be to ask for and introduce it."